Christianity a la carte will not do for us
Editor:
The religion of Christ must be accepted or rejected as a whole.
Truth requires consistency, and God has a right to be believed when He reveals a definite doctrine. No one who understands the New Testament could entertain loose ideas on this subject.
St. Paul wrote to the Galatians, “Though we, or an angel from heaven, preach a Gospel to you besides that which we have preached to you, let him be accursed.”
To Timothy, he wrote, “I desire you to remain at Ephesus that though might charge. Some not to teach otherwise.” 1 Timothy 1:3 “If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to that doctrine which is according to godliness, he is proud, knowing nothing.” 1 Timothy VI:3
It is quite evident from the New Testament that differences of doctrine do matter very much, and that compromise in such things is impossible.
The earnestness and devotedness of all good Protestant ministers are indeed admireable. But they make it still sadder that they should be laboring in a mistaken way.
They devote themselves to what they believe to be a furtherance of Christ’s Gospel, but in reality, they have inadequate and wrong notions of Christ’s teachings. When they insist upon the love of God, a life of virtue, and devotion to the person of our savior, my heart and soul is with them.
But we must not lose sight of the nature of Christ’s church. That church is one world-wide spiritual society in which all the members profess the same faith, unite in the same worship, and submit to the same Christ-given authority.
A man is not a member of that church unless he accepts the same teachings, participates in the same worship and Sacraments and submits to the same authority as all 1.3 billion members of it.
Christ founded a church, said that the gates of hell or forces of evil would never prevail against it, and also said that he would be with it all days till the end of the world.
His church, therefore, must be still in this world and it must have been in the world all days since his time. That rules out all other churches except for the Catholic Church; for all other churches came into existence long after Christ, and have not been in the world all days since Christ.

Gilbert Ulivarri Jr.
Belen

Electric rates will skyrocket in New Mexico
Editor:
Electric rates are going to skyrocket because the 2007 New Mexico Legislature passed Senate Bill 418. Some recent political ads claim that SB 418 is “protecting our families and our natural resources.” I think not.
SB 418, was passed into law in 2007. It’s called the Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) that forces NM electric companies to have 20 percent of their power resources come from renewables (wind, solar, and biomass) by the year 2020.
Last year, 2011, the Rio Grande Foundation and the American Tradition Institute published their report on the “Economic Impact of New Mexico’s Renewable Portfolio Standard.”
The findings are as follows:
1. Over the period of 2011 to 2020, New Mexicans will pay $2.3 billion more for electricity than they otherwise would because of the Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS);
2. New Mexicans will pay $619 million more for power in 2020 because of the RPS;
3. In 2020 New Mexico’s electricity prices will be 20 percent higher due to the RPS.
These increased energy prices will hurt the states households and businesses and, in turn, inflict significant harm on the state economy.
According to the study:
1. By 2020, New Mexico will lose an average of 2,859 jobs;
2. In 2020, the RPS mandate will reduce annual wages by an average of $707 per worker;
3. Due to higher home energy costs, in 2020 annual real disposable income will fall by an average of $465 million;
4. In 2020, the RPS will cost families an average of $169 per year, commercial businesses an average of $1,393 per year, and industrial businesses an average of $22,340 per year;
5. Over the 10 years, the average household ratepayer will pay $628 in higher electricity costs; the average commercial ratepayer will spend an extra $5,468, and the average industrial ratepayer an extra $87,671.
Does this sound like “protecting our families?” The Renewable Portfolio Standard is going to be a great hardship on seniors, low-income and middle class families, not to mention businesses.
Maybe the elite group of Democratic New Mexico legislators, their radical environmental lobbyists and Bill Richardson can afford to pay the price of the RPS, but the rest of us cannot. It should be noted that the Renewable Portfolio Standard policy forced on our electric companies and New Mexico ratepayers will do nothing to reduce global CO2 emissions, but rather send jobs and capital investment outside the state.
As to “protecting our natural resources,” this is hardly the case. Wind and solar take up far more of our natural resources than conventional forms of energy. As an example: Most of PNM’s power comes from San Juan Generating Station, but radical environmentalists, under the unrealistic utopian belief that wind and solar can produce the power we need, are waging a war on coal-fired power plants and want San Juan closed down.
To replace San Juan Generating Station with solar, it would take 1,482 of PNM’s 5 megawatt 50 acre arrays like the one in Los Lunas and would cover about 74,100 acres, about an area of the Sandia Mountain and Manzano Wilderness.
Wind is even worse! To replace San Juan, it would take 30 NM Energy Center wind farms to produce the same power, an equivalent of 509,808 acres (Valencia County contains 683,520 acres). It would require covering 75 percent of Valencia County’s land area with wind mills to replace San Juan.
Then to top that off, even more back-up/quick-start coal, natural gas, or nuclear plants would have to be built to prop up the wimpy renewable system.
The mailed-out ads also mention passing the Solar Energy Improvement Act and the Renewable Energy Tax Credit. These bills, and now law passed by the New Mexico Legislature, do nothing but take money out of taxpayer’s pockets to pay for residential and commercial use of solar energy systems and to give tax credits to people who can afford to do this without taking money from you.
An example would be the two restaurants in Valencia County that installed solar arrays eliminating their electric bills. To do that they have received outright grants from the federal government along with the federal tax credits covering over half the cost. The rest is covered by state tax credits and PNM paying double for the surplus daytime electricity.
In other words, all the PNM ratepayers and New Mexico taxpayers are footing the electric bills for these businesses.
I wouldn’t advertise the harm inflicted on New Mexico ratepayers and taxpayers by these bills. From now until 2020, electricity rates will incrementally increase until they reach skyrocketing levels, thanks to New Mexico Legislators!

Donna L. Crawford
Los Lunas

Open your eyes, make right decision
Editor:
Mr. Antonio Flores wrote a nice letter in defense of President Obama and his policies, but he couldn’t refrain from taking a swipe at Republicans as the “party that is soft on terrorism and that destroyed the economy…during Bush’s tenure.” and, “these two things are the historic legacy of the modern Republican Party.”
Let’s talk about legacy. We’ve had some 70 years or more of compromise by the Republican Party, or at least by the centrist wing and all too often by the conservative wing of the party. The result? Nearly $16 trillion in debt growing at the rate of a trillion dollars year.
Unemployment stagnant at 8 percent, probably heading higher. Business strangled by burdensome rules and regulations. Enough, already.
Mr. Flores, is Spain your model? Only in the last year has Spain moved away from a socialist government. Spain had a huge housing bubble. Sound familiar? Spain has unemployment hovering around 25 percent, and only three in five Spanish youth are employed.
Their recession isn’t going away, it gets worse quarter-by-quarter. Or maybe you prefer Greece as your model?
We’re on exactly the same track and the end is just as clear for us. The only defense Democrats seem to have is to print more money. How has that worked out for you?
Did you get your share? Are your friends and relatives keeping their jobs and their homes?
The best way to describe the result of the stimulus and QE1 and QE2 — and QE3 soon — is that they are like leading a horse to water. If the horse isn’t thirsty, it won’t drink.
If things proceed as you wish you can look forward to eight, perhaps 12 years, just like the last six under Bush and Obama. Enjoy. Or, you can open your eyes and vote for the candidates who will get our country moving again.

Robert E. Sanders
Rio Communities

God bless Obama out of office
Editor:
I laughed so hard I cried when I read Antonio Flores’s latest rant regarding Mr. Obama. I doubt that even he believes his “facts.”
I will not comment on his stated “facts” because I do not wish to wage a letter to the editor battle with him. It is obvious Mr. Flores has drunk the Kool Aid.
Mr. Flores, you are an educated man, but I am not certain if you are using the correct term when you refer to Obama’s detractors as tea baggers. (I am assuming you are referring to the Tea Party.)
If you are unsure as to what a teabagger is, I would suggest you type “Reggie Love tea bag” in your favorite search engine to see for yourself what vulgarity and hatred you are spewing.
Yes, God bless the United States of America, and God bless Mr. Obama — right out of office!